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Introduction

Palestrina trained as a chorister at S Maria Maggiore in Rome and his first appointment was in 1544 as organist of S Agapito in Palestrina (the town from which we derive his name). By 1551 he had returned to Rome as magister cantorum of the Cappella Giulia and was admitted to the Cappella Sistina in 1555, only to be dismissed in the same year, a casualty of Pope Paul IV’s new regulation that married singers were not suitable members of his choir. As a result he became maestro at S Giovanni in Laterano but returned to S Maria Maggiore in 1560. In April 1571 he once again became maestro of the Cappella Giulia where he remained until his death. He was the pre-eminent composer of his generation and had a wide influence on all musicians who came into contact with his music. He was therefore an obvious choice to be at the centre of a new project when seven Roman musicians came together (or were brought together) to write a Mass-setting where they each contributed different sections. The resulting work, the twelve-voice Missa Cantantibus organis, is a tribute both to Cecilia (the patron saint of music) and to Palestrina. The seven composers each take themes found in Palestrina’s motet of the same name and use them as the starting point for their new compositions. Palestrina himself is among the seven, with Giovanni Andrea Dragoni, Ruggiero Giovannelli, Curzio Mancini, Prospero Santini, Francesco Soriano and Annibale Stabile being the other six. All seven composers were prominent maestri in Rome and most appear to have had contact with Palestrina either as choristers or pupils. They were also all members of the Vertuosa Compagnia dei Musici di Roma, a society designed for mutual support, organized in 1584 and officially founded the following year under the patronage of Pope Gregory XIII. This society was the forerunner of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia.

There is no evidence that the Mass was written for the Compagnia, although it is tempting to speculate. Stylistically, the Mass belongs to the end of the sixteenth century, with several of the composers writing for three choirs, and, as Palestrina contributed the opening movement of the Gloria, it must have been written before his death in 1594. The fact that there seems to be no other example of a Mass written as it were by committee suggests that it may have been designed for a particular event. Could it be that the Mass was written to celebrate the establishment of the Compagnia in 1585? Certainly there is a later example of composers from the Confraternity collaborating together, when Felice Anerio (maestro of the Compagnia in 1589) organized works by various composers into a volume entitled La Gioie. Could Anerio have had a hand in bringing the composers together?

The Mass has a number of odd features. The setting of the ‘Domine Deus’ in the Gloria has no composer ascribed to it in any of the sources. It has been suggested that it might be the work of Palestrina (who wrote the preceding section) but this seems unlikely on stylistic grounds. Then there is the bizarre state of the Sanctus. Prospero Santini composed an impressive opening section but his setting stops after the words ‘Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua’ and there is no setting of the Hosanna nor of the Benedictus in any of the three extant sources. In addition to this, one source contains a second Sanctus by Curzio Mancini (less successful than the one recorded here) but this also stops at the same place as Santini’s setting. Perhaps one of the composers missed a deadline, or was another composer invited to contribute but failed to do so? Less unusual is the short Agnus Dei by Mancini which has only one invocation, using the words ‘miserere nobis’. Certain institutions such as St John Lateran traditionally did not include the ‘dona nobis pacem’ in their liturgy and this practice may have been repeated elsewhere.

Annibale Stabile (c1535–1595) was the writer of the first section of the Kyrie, the first section of the Credo and the ‘Crucifixus’, and as such is the most prominent composer in the piece. He described himself as a pupil of Palestrina and spent most of his life in Rome where he was maestro at S Giovanni in Laterano (1575–1578), then at the German College (1578–1590) and finally at S Maria Maggiore (1591–1594). From February 1595 until his death he was in the service of King Sigismund III of Poland and died in Cracow.

The ‘Christe’ section was set by Francesco Soriano (1548/9–1621) as was ‘Et ascendit’ from the Credo. A chorister under Palestrina at S Giovanni in Laterano, Soriano became a priest in 1574 and was maestro at S Luigi dei Francesi in Rome from 1570. He was dismissed from this post in 1581 (his too frequent absences being cited as the main problem) and subsequently moved to Mantua where he served as maestro from 1581 to 1586 (interestingly there was an attempt to remove him from this post also in 1583). The remainder of his career saw a return to Rome and employment at the three major foundations: S Maria Maggiore (1586–1589, part of 1595 and 1601–1603); S Giovanni in Laterano (1599–1601) and the Cappella Giulia (1603–1620).

Two sections were contributed by Giovanni Andrea Dragoni (c1540–1598)—the final portions of the Kyrie and the Gloria. In a dedication of 1575 he pays tribute to the education he received from Palestrina and his entire life was centred on Rome where he was maestro at S Giovanni in Laterano from 1576 until his death in 1598. Much of his music was in the Lateran library but has subsequently been lost.

Ruggiero Giovannelli (c1560–1625) provided music for the culmination of the Credo and he may also have been a pupil of Palestrina (although there is no definite evidence for this). He became maestro at S Luigi dei Francesi in 1583 and from 1587 also directed the music at the English College. From 1591 to 1594 he served as maestro at the German College. In 1589 he was in charge of music for the Oratorio della SS Trinità dei Pellegrini and at some time entered the service of Duke Giovanni Angelo Altemps (the patron of Felice Anerio). In 1594 he succeeded Palestrina as maestro at the Cappella Giulia but resigned this post in 1599 when he joined the Sistine Chapel Choir as a singer. He served as secretary of the Cappella Sistina in 1607, treasurer from 1610 to 1613 and was elected maestro in 1614. He retired on 7 April 1624.

The incomplete Sanctus is in a setting by the little known Prospero Santini (fl1591–1614). Thus far history has given us neither a birth nor a death date. He was maestro di cappella of the Congregazione dei Preti dell’ Oratorio and principally a composer of laude and canzonette spirituale.

Curzio Mancini (c1553–after 1611) was the composer of the Agnus Dei. He was a chorister at S Giovanni in Laterano until February 1567 and may therefore have spent a little time studying with Palestrina. In 1576 he organized the Holy Week music for the Oratorio del Gonfalone in Rome and did the same for the major feasts between February 1577 and March 1579 at SS Trinità dei Pellegrini. From 1589 to 1591 he was maestro at S Maria Maggiore (in succession to Soriano) and from June 1592 to May 1593 was maestro at Santa Casa, Loreto. He must have been adept at large-scale organization as in 1596 he put together the splendid Corpus Christi celebrations at the Confraternity of San Rocco and from June 1601 to October 1603 he was maestro at S Giovanni in Laterano. He returned to Loreto in October 1603 and then again to S Giovanni from 1608 until June 1611: nothing more is known of his biography.

If Felice Anerio (c1560–1614) was involved in drawing together the Missa Cantantibus organis for the Compagnia, he was exceptionally modest in not including any of his own music. He was successively a choirboy at S Maria Maggiore and at St Peter’s (under Palestrina). Service at various Roman churches followed, including spells as maestro at the Spanish S Maria di Monserrato and the English College, before he was appointed composer to the Papal Chapel on the death of Palestrina in 1594. In the early 1600s Anerio acted as maestro to Duke Giovanni Angelo Altemps, and it was in this aristocrat’s library that one of the sources of the Missa Cantantibus organis was discovered, perhaps strengthening the case that Anerio was somehow involved in its creation.

Recordings

The Cardinall’s Musick finished 2010 in a blaze of glory with their Gramophone Recording of the Year award for the last volume of their Byrd Edition—a fitting tribute to the soaring artistry of the group and their director, Andrew Carwood. Their e ...» More

Glory be to God on high and on earth peace, good will towards men. We praise thee. We bless thee. We worship thee. We glorify thee. We give thanks to thee for thy great glory. O Lord God, heavenly king, God the Father almighty, O Lord the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

Thou that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Thou that takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. Thou that sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us. For thou only art holy. Thou only art the Lord. Thou only art most high, Jesus Christ. With the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, born of his Father before all worlds, God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven. And was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.

And in the Holy Spirit, Lord and giver of life: who proceedeth from the Father and Son, who with the Father and Son is worshipped and glorified: who spake by the prophets. And in one holy, catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.